The Red Zone

February 15, 2022
An essayist discusses menstrual dysfunctions in the context of sexual identity, family, and love. Caldwell's periods dominated her young adult life. She had heavy, clotted menstrual flows and hormonal acne. As she matured, her symptoms worsened. "Something wasn't right. Since I'd gotten into my thirties, my periods had become more severe," she writes. "Why was it heightened? Why was I afraid of it? It was affecting my relationships and my ability to socialize....This didn't feel like just PMS. It felt different. Dangerous." Consequently, Caldwell began a frantic search for answers anywhere she could find them. In her second memoir, following I'll Tell You in Person, Caldwell sets down her journey of discovery. Interviewing female family members and friends, she learned not only about their experiences, but also about the evolution of feminine hygiene products, like sanitary bloomers, sanitary belts, and period protective underwear. Turning to Reddit, the author took comfort in the often hilarious rants of fellow PMS sufferers before trying antidepressants to ease what she realized was premenstrual dysphoric disorder, an extreme form of PMS. Tracking her cycles through online apps helped her predict when she would have the "werewolf" outbursts that strained her relationships with her boyfriend and his young daughter. Yet as much as PMDD often hijacked her life, coming to terms with it within the confines of a loving relationship ultimately strengthened the "connection" she was initially afraid to pursue. Caldwell's candor about all things menstrual is the greatest strength of this dynamic book. While the graphic physical depictions of menstrual dysfunction many not appeal to all readers, women who suffer from PMDD will take solace in the ups and downs of Caldwell's journey toward self-acceptance, health, and love. The narrative may also appeal to anyone who suffers frustration and anger in the face of an illness for which they struggle to get an accurate diagnosis, a situation that disproportionately affects women. Provocatively intimate reading.

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March 1, 2022
With the title of her latest memoir referring to menstrual blood, Caldwell (I'll Tell You in Person, 2016) confirms her quirky personality on page one when she asks her then-boyfriend, pianist and Airbnb superhost Tony, to look at photographs she took of her blood clots. Caldwell had always had difficult periods, but now, in her thirties, the symptoms are debilitating. Pre-Tony, Caldwell, who identifies as queer and is funny and self-deprecating, was skimming books like Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own. Now she finds herself seriously involved with a man and a single dad. She orders Thinx period underwear, which her equally witty beau calls her Stinks. Finally she realizes that she has premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which includes acne, leg cramps, headaches, crying, anger, and irritability. Along with comic, sometimes infuriating interludes (Caldwell gets her period on her wedding day and then on their delayed honeymoon), Caldwell delves deeply into medical and social aspects of menstruation as well as complex aspects of women's health, identity, marriage, and family, resulting in a fresh, intimate, and engaging chronicle.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 28, 2022
In this scintillating work, essayist Caldwell (Women) uses her menstrual cycle to explore her body and the complex narrative around women’s pain. When, in her mid-30s, Caldwell began experiencing frightening mood swings tied to her period, she recalls, “This didn’t feel like just PMS. It felt different. Dangerous.” On the receiving end of her volatility—which she later attributes to premenstrual dysphoric disorder (a more acute form of PMS)—was Tony, a man Caldwell had recently begun dating. Caldwell recalls how, with Tony’s unflagging support (the two jokingly dubbed her PMS the “red zone”), she embarked on a mission to understand her period—“blood clots” and all—as well as societal stigmas that, for years, kept her remote from it. Weaving in research from PMS-themed Reddit threads (including one called “Werewolf Week”) and frank conversations with other women—who, like Caldwell, wrestled with “shame and secrecy” around their periods—she smartly blends the personal and cultural to confront the ways women’s suffering has been dismissed throughout history (in a 1946 Disney film about menstruation, Caldwell writes that PMS is summed up as “some girls have a little less pep”). The result gives a vibrant voice to a struggle that many have been taught to quietly shoulder alone. This is an audacious tribute to women everywhere.